(Newser)
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Between the recession and threats to its federal funding, PBS is facing tough times—so don’t be surprised if you see a lot more Les Miserables and self-help programming. PBS stations have upped the length of televised pledging periods by 9% since 2005, the company says, with some stations spending 10 weeks a year on fundraising. And this month, it’s been working: viewers have pledged 31% more cash than they did last March, the New York Times reports.

While some viewers may miss their usual programming, “I believe strongly that it’s totally appropriate for us to be doing that, going on the air to a perfectly targeted group of our users and explaining why we need their help,” says an exec. Individuals are local stations’ top funding source, the company notes; in 2009, they provided 24% of the stations’ revenue. Now, PBS is hoping to pull in new, younger donors by boosting online fundraising efforts. Click for why public broadcasting should just go private.

The less money PBS gets from federal funding and/or state funding, the more it will rely on individual donations. The more that happens, the more likely they are to reflect the views of those that actually support them. Guess what, people, those people generally tend to be more Liberal. Just sayin'.

YourFootInYourMouth

Mar 14, 2011 12:40 PM CDT

End all media that isn't Murdoch owned!! All other Media is Liberal trash, trying to spread fear and lies to Americans! They want to falsely put slavery in our civil war and secularism in our Government!

AnonymousCommenter

Mar 14, 2011 12:33 PM CDT

We are lucky enough to have 2 PBS Station in our vicinity. One of them seems to be on a neverending beg-a-thon. the other one is not too bad. I really feel that the programming that they feature during pledge drives is deceptive advertising. They encourage one to pledge if he or she supports that particular type of programming. The problem is that they only show that type of programming during the pledge drives. I do not particularly support the programming that they feature during pledge drives though. I much prefer their regular programming such as Nova, Mystery, American Experience, etc...